


Put your aches in his hands

by WashiPuppy



Series: Connections [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Hunk is just awesome, Hunk therapy, Keith has the wrong idea, Lots of Touching, Platonic Relationships, Sleepy Shiro, inuendo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-14
Updated: 2016-09-17
Packaged: 2018-08-15 00:09:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8034373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WashiPuppy/pseuds/WashiPuppy
Summary: Even if the water didn't help him sleep, it might help remove some of the tension that seemed to have settled into his shoulders and back. Probably not though. These days, it felt like Shiro wore that tension like a cloak that only loosened when he was fighting._______Shiro and Lance run into each other in the middle of the night. Shiro was just planning on showering, until Lance drags him off for some down-time.Meanwhile, Keith is walking proof that a misunderstanding is hard to shake, especially when everything seems to support it.Takes place immediately after Fake It, and references that story a few times.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (Edit: So... the first part of this could do with some major editing and re-working. Until that happens, my apologies. )

Waking from a nightmare was never pleasant. After clawing himself up to consciousness there came a moment of disorientation for Shiro, when the nightmare still clung to his psyche as a collection of tattered, disconnected images; some of which flitted away as soon as he tried to focus on them, some of which stayed fixed in his mind, but without the connective tissue that gave them a narrative place. All that remained instead was the emotions, the adrenaline running through his body, his heart pounding loud in his ears and the lingering impression of a sharp and sickening smell of necrotic flesh and burned skin.

He forced himself to lay still, trying to let the adrenaline wash through him and let his heart return to a normal speed. The nightmare was already receding until he could barely remember what had happened in it, leaving just flashes and moments out of context. A few ticks more, and he couldn't recall the smell. The terror still clung to him though, driving him upwards and out of the tangled mess that was his bed right now.

The air in his room was still, and kept fairly warm, but Shiro still shivered when the air moved over his damp skin. Damp... ugh, he was drenched in sweat, already beginning to dry on his skin like a crust.

Shiro briefly considered heading out to the training deck - he was already sweaty, what more could it hurt? But he reminded himself that, whatever he might imagine, exercising before bed was not the best way to fall asleep. Heading to the training deck was the same as admitting that he wouldn't be going back to sleep, and he wasn't quite willing to do that just yet.

Just a quick shower then. Maybe the hot water would help.

He stood up, stretching his shoulders with a groan. Even if the water didn't help him sleep, it might help remove some of the tension that seemed to have settled into his shoulders and back. Probably not though. These days, it felt like Shiro wore that tension like a cloak that only loosened when he was fighting.

Shiro deliberately put that thought aside for now. That was not a thought he wanted to chase around, particularly not in the middle of the castle's "night" time. Instead he grabbed up his towel and some clothes to change into and headed out into the hallways. There were technically showering facilities appended to his room, but it was smaller and slightly claustrophobic. The shared baths and showers were larger and better stocked anyway, and at this time of night he would be alone in there.

The hallways were colder than the bedrooms, drawing goosebumps up on Shiro's skin. The low hum of silence that settled into the halls didn't help his nerves much right now either, and despite telling himself to relax he remained on high alert as he made the short trip to the showers.

He had nearly reached his destination when he became aware that he wasn't the only one walking around this late. His mind was already on edge, so he found himself pressing his back to the wall instinctively despite intellectually knowing that it was far more likely to be one of the regular Castle's residents than any sort of intruder.

Shiro slid sideways and peaked around the corner into the next corridor. A lone figure walked towards him, lit blue by the night lighting and moving carefully, as though trying to be as quiet as they could.

It took his brain an embarrassingly long time to identify the shape as Lance.

Shiro straightened up, leaning back against the wall and breathing out slowly. He really needed to calm down.

Lance rounded the corner and jumped back, arms coming up to defend himself as he uttered a sharp, startled cry. He immediately covered his own mouth with his hands, muffling his next, whispered words. "Sweet cheeses, don't do that!"

"Do what?" Shiro asked, fighting down the urge laugh.

"Do... That!" Lance whispered loudly, waving a hand up and down to indicate Shiro's whole body. "Lurk against walls in dark corridors!"

Shiro wasn't really sure what to say to that, so he shrugged, wincing a little as his shoulders protested the movement. "I'm hardly lurking. I'm just standing here."

"Po-tay-to po-tah-to."

"What are you doing up at this hour anyway?" Shiro switched the subject, although he was genuinely curious. Lance wasn't known to be an early riser by any reckoning, but Shiro was beginning to wonder if he had more midnight conversations with the blue lion than he had let on in their earlier conversation.

Lance hadn't gone into details about what he talked to the blue lion about, only that they'd spoken the night before, and he thought perhaps his lion had been reacting to his subconsciousness more than what he was actually telling it to do with the controls. Lance seemed to think that his lion was trying to prove a point. Shiro... wasn't so sure that was it.

Lance's body language had been so tense and twitchy, and Shiro kept remembering stepping into the Black Lion's senses and seeing the blue lion as the Black Lion had seen them. The Black Lion had seen the blue trying to draw everyone's attention, movements playful, then suddenly shying away from the other lions as though it expected them to attack. If that was blue acting out what Lance wanted to do subconsciously, then Shiro wanted badly to ask Lance what was going on in his head. He wanted Lance to talk to him, or really any member of the team, rather than talking at his lion (sentient though it may be), but... he wasn't going to force it. That would have made him feel too much like a hypocrite.

He could certainly understand the comfort in talking to someone who was already in your head, who would understand without judging. He didn't really talk with the black lion, but he'd often go to just... sit with them in silence, letting the Black Lion wrap him the feeling of being right where he belonged.

Lance looked away sheepishly, hands jammed into his jacket pocket. Shiro worried for a moment that he'd been staring at them while he'd been thinking, waiting to see if they still twitched and fluttered about, reaching out like they weren't entirely under his control.

"I went to talk to Blue before bed. Might have been... apologising for today a little. Then I might have fallen asleep on her head." Lance turned back to Shiro with an exaggerated wince, rolling his left arm and grabbing his shoulder. "Which, for the record, terrible idea. Definitely not one of my best."

Shiro let himself chuckle a bit at that. A brief look of delight flashed across Lance's face.

"How 'bout you? What's got you all lurky?" Lance asked. Shiro blinked for a moment, surprised despite that really being a perfectly valid question, if phrased with questionable grammar.

He raised his bundle of clothes and towel by way of an answer.

"A shower?" Lance lifted an eyebrow, "At quiznack-O'Clock at night?"

"I woke up." Shiro offered by way of explanation. "Didn't really want to lay around in my room waiting to fall back asleep."

"You do realise that's exactly the trick most people use to fall asleep, right? You fake being asleep until you're really asleep?" Lance tilted his head "Anyway, I think you overshot the showers a bit."

Shiro looked back up the hallway to where the door to the showers stood behind him, grateful to Lance for giving him an out from having to explain himself further.

"Only because I heard someone coming towards me," Shiro stated with a half smile.

"No way, I was being super quiet." Lance began walking up the hall, still whispering as he did. Shiro fell in step with him. He was going back that way anyway, after all.

"I could hear you from the other end of the hall."

"...Really?"

"Loud and clear." Shiro finished with a grin. Lance's shoulders slumped, but he seemed to be exaggerating for effect, so Shiro didn't feel too bad.

"Of course. Your hearing WOULD be excellent," Lance grumbled. Shiro thought he saw Lance glance over at him a couple of times on the short walk back to the showers. Lance was certainly looking at him with a thoughtful expression when Shiro turned around at the door, ready to insist he get to bed.

Lance was quicker, jumping slightly, as though he'd been startled out of thought.

"Enjoy your shower," He grinned, turning and sauntering back towards the sleeping quarters.

Shiro shook his head in amusement.

* * *

Shiro felt a lot cleaner after the shower, but not relaxed enough for sleep again. He knew he hadn't gotten enough, and that uninterrupted sleep was a luxury he should take advantage of whenever he could. If only his mind would get on board with that.

He really didn't expect Lance to be back by the door when he stepped out into the hall.

"Lance?" Shiro asked. He wasn't sure why - that was definitely Lance. Unless Shiro really had fallen asleep in the shower, in which case he hoped he'd at least collapsed in a dignified way. "What are you still doing up?"

Lance grinned in response, wide and feline. "Follow me."

"Where?"

Lance took him by his metal hand and began leading him up the hall without answering. Shiro thought about digging his heels in, but really he had no reason not to follow.

They came to a stop in front of a familiar door, labelled with a yellow lion.

Hunk's room? Why would Lance have bought him to Hunk's room?

Lance knocked on the door, taping out a short, musical rhythm. The door opened quickly, revealing an unexpectedly awake Hunk in the mostly lit room.

Hunk glanced over Lance quickly before looking past him to Shiro, giving him a once over. Shiro was pretty sure he didn't look too bad, did he? A little overtired perhaps, but nothing that should be obvious in the low light.

"Come in," Hunk stepped back from the door. Lance pulled Shiro into the room, still holding on to his hand.

"OK, sit on the bunk." Hunk instructed, linking his fingers in front of him and stretching out his arms. His knuckles popped loudly.

Shiro blinked, looking between Lance, who was grinning despite fidgeting with his free hand, and Hunk, who looked... well, determined to get his way, one way or another.

"Why?" Shiro had to ask. In response, Lance tried to maneuver him to sit down.

"Because your shoulders are up around your ears." Lance poked him in the right shoulder to punctuate that fact. Shiro deliberately dropped his shoulders. Huh, they were up a bit high. "Plus, I'm pretty sure I could break a steel bar against your back. What you need is a massage."

Lance dramatically swooped his arms out towards Hunk. "A patented Hunk massage, to be specific."

Hunk grinned and wiggled his fingers in a quick wave.

"Oh," Shiro mumbled. He had wondered where this was going. "Thanks, but I'm alright."

"Uh-huh," Hunk replied, clearly unconvinced.

"No, I'm serious," Shiro insisted. "It's the middle of the night, and you guys should be asleep. I'm fine, and I don't really need a massage, just sleep."

Lance threw up his hands and flopped down onto Hunk's bunk, pouting and mumbling something that sounded like a garbled version of "This is why I didn't tell you on the way".

Hunk was a bit more measured in his response. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed casually.

"So, is there a reason besides 'Not wanting to inconvenience me' that you're saying no?" He asked, a touch of wariness creeping into his otherwise light tone. 

Shiro stopped and considered the question seriously. Was there another reason? He didn't hate the idea of being touched, and there'd been absolutely no mention of having to remove any item of clothing, so shyness wasn't it. There was some sense of indiscretion, that was true. He was their leader, the one who was supposed to take care of them. One look at Hunk was enough to tell Shiro that excuse would not fly tonight. That left only one real reason that he could think of; That there was something distinctly intimate about the whole idea of sitting in his team-mates room in the middle of the night being offered a back massage, and he had no idea how to react to that.

But with Lance doing an impression of a beached starfish and pouting at the roof while Hunk looked at him with one eyebrow raised in bright yellow pyjamas, it seemed kind of... Silly to try to keep himself away from that. After all, they were all out here together, occasionally forming a single giant robot person. They'd all practically connected their minds before.

He didn't want to be the leader right now.

"As long as I get to keep my shirt on, I guess not," Shiro responded, smiling. Lance bolted up to a sitting position.

"Yes! Victory!" He flung his hands up, smacking them against the top of the sleeping pod. "OW! Dammit!"

Shiro laughed and sat down next to Lance, letting Hunk turn him around to face the doorway as he sat down behind him. Lance shook his hands out for a moment.

"Let me know if it's too hard." Hunk said easily behind him. He then placed his hands on Shiro's shoulders and carefully began to apply pressure. Shiro felt the back of his neck completely refuse to give under his hand.

"Wow. Lance was right, I think I could break a steel bar over your back here." Hunk commented. He shifted position. "Alright then, brace yourself."

"Against wha-Hnn!" Shiro's breath left him in a slightly pained rush as Hunk dug his fingers in hard, pushing up against the back of his neck. His hands flew out in front of him, his left grabbing on to Lance's shoulder while the right grabbed the end of the bed.

Lance laughed, whole body shaking as he curled forwards and tried to keep from laughing too loud. He braced his hands against Shiro's shoulders to prevent him from slipping further.

"You right there, Big Cat? Not too hard?" Lance beamed when he got his giggles under control.

"Nope." Shiro lightly smacked him in the arm in retaliation. Lance grabbed his hand and held it in his lap.

Hunk dug his fingers into the back of his neck again and dragged his thumbs up. Shiro hissed, and the movement was repeated. The ache of the pressure was followed by a light, tingling feeling, like good pins and needles, blood flowing back into muscles that had been locked up so long they'd almost gone numb. 

"And this is why I thought Hunk was the best option." Lance held up the hand that wasn't currently holding Shiro's wrist. "These beauties are delicate, precision tools."

Hunk snorted. "What he means is that getting a massage from him is more like acupuncture."

"Is not! I'll have you know I'm excellent with my hands. You wound me with your baseless accusations." Lance argued back. Shiro noticed that while Lance's left hand waved around as he spoke, his right hand remained still, with his thumb resting over Shiro's pulse-point. 

Was that intentional? It seemed like it might be, in which case the question became 'Was Lance keeping an eye on his heart rate?' which just... seemed ridiculous.

"And you wound me with your pointy, pointy fingers," Hunk said from over Shiro's shoulder. "Although I gotta admit, your elbows would be good at getting right under the shoulder blade. Speaking of..."

Almost as though it was practiced, Lance lifted Shiro's arm and wiggled it about in the air before pulling it across his body. Hunk pressed his fingers into the muscle right under his shoulder blade and pushed up.

Shiro felt something twang sharply, followed by the feeling of relief rushing into a muscle he hadn't even registered as tense until it was suddenly relaxing. 

Quite against his will, Shiro moaned with the relief of it.

He then realised exactly what that had sounded like.

Shiro's hand flew up to his mouth, covering it far too late to prevent that particular noise from coming out. Maybe that had gone unnoticed? He met Lance's eyes for a moment, confirming that nope, that sound had definitely been noticed, judging by the wide eyed expression on Lance's face. He was pretty sure Lance was going red too.

Half a tick later, Lance snorted loudly and began giggling. That was the only way Shiro could think to describe it. Lance was giggling.

Shiro lasted only a moment longer before he fell to laughing himself, chuckles stifled behind his metal hand as he tried not to just collapse forwards. He couldn't help it, between Lance giggling like a loon and the massage convincing his brain to respond with an endorphin rush. Right now, he just felt... ridiculous. But more then that, he was here. No thoughts, no plans, no half constructed visions of the past. No reason to be hyper aware.

Even Hunk huffed a laugh with them, rubbing that spot just under his shoulder blade with less force.

"Where did you even learn to do this?" Shiro asked, once his and Lance's laughter died down enough for Shiro to cross his metal arm over his body and let Hunk work the same magic on that side.

If anything it felt even better on that side, the weight of the Galra metal apparently pulling him a little more off balance than he realised. At least this time he managed to bite down any embarrassing noises.

"What, this? Well, it all started with Granny Hunk and her Arthritis," Hunk began. "See, Granny Hunk had amazing hand writing. She used to do calligraphy work for, like, invitations and stuff. But the Arthritis kept making her hands so sore that she couldn't even hold a pen, and her hands kept getting pulled into this claw shape." Hunk demonstrated the shape over Shiro's shoulder. 

"Dad would help her rub this awful smelling balm into her hands and try to stretch her fingers out. When I got a bit older, I started doing it instead."

"Then Mom's back problems started getting worse. Dad used to give her massages to help to keep her functional. She worked as a mechanic, so she spent a lot of her time under things or bent over things. After Dad died... I kinda took over that too. Mom ain't like Gran though - Mom could bench press Lance. Easily."

"I'd be offended to be used as the standard if she hadn't actually literally done that." Lance commented. Shiro raised an eyebrow.

"That sounds like a story I want to hear." He grinned. Lance stuck his tongue out.

Hunk hummed, putting his weight behind the push up alongside Shiro's spine. "Y'know, doing the things I used to do at home like... Inventing recipes like I used to with Dad - He was a chef, you know. One of the best." Hunk spoke with obvious pride, "Or even just building things like I always do with Mom... It makes me feel just a little closer to them, no matter how many light years way they are. You know?"

Shiro couldn't say he did, exactly, but he tried to imagine it.

Lance moved in front of him, making Shiro suddenly aware that he'd closed his eyes while trying to imagine. He was also aware that Lance's hands were back on his wrists, one thumb over his pulse, the other fidgeting with the metal fingers of his right hand. His eyes looked distinctly misty as he looked around the room, at his own hands, anywhere but at Shiro or Hunk.

He'd only just made up his mind to ask when Lance spoke again. Shiro wondered if the ability to interrupt someone just as they were about to say something was a natural talent Lance had, or just luck.

"Let it be known for the record that it was less a bench press and more of a lift. And throw." He said, voice loose and easy.

"She still lifted you over her head," Hunk interjected. "And near threw her back out doing it. Both of you are trying to make me go bald. The whole of Team Voltron is trying to make me go bald with stress."

"Pffft, you don't need hair. You'd look fine bald," Lance was completely unapologetic.

"I'll be honest, I ju- hhn -st can't see Hunk bald." Shiro shook his head. Lance snickered.

The three of them fell into an easy conversation after that, topics meandering naturally until he found himself getting drawn into a pun battle with Hunk while Lance groaned and complained that every word was physically painful (despite making far worse puns himself as he did so). Shiro learned that Lance knew every word to an alarming number of Disney songs (and at least part of a lot more - Shiro hadn't been able to stump him, not even with "That song from Sleeping Beauty, you know - the one she sings with prince whats-his-name"), and had a pretty good singing voice. He discovered that neither Hunk nor Lance had seen Clue, but they had seen Mean Girls.

He didn't even notice his head listing ever closer to Lance as they talked, nor the light slur his voice was starting to get. He just felt... younger. Like he was a Cadet again, just hanging around in one of the shared dorms with his classmates, heads bent towards each other as they talked about nothing important and traded snacks that someone had snuck in. It was something he hadn't thought about for... well, since he graduated.

Shiro's eyes closed and his thoughts fizzled out, registering only briefly that he should probably not fall asleep face down on the warmth in front of him before even that thought blew away and he rested his head on a broad but slightly sharp shoulder.

Luckily, the warmth in front of him also thought he shouldn't sleep face down on it, because it tilted him sideways once he fell into it.

"Should we wake him up and send him back to his room?" Lance asked in a whispered voice. That's right, he was the warmth in front of him.

"Probably. I kinda don't want to wake him though. Do you think I could carry him?" Another whispered voice - ah, that'd be Hunk.

"Not without waking him," Lance again, still whispering. "You're strong enough, but Shiro's as tall as you are. You can crash with me, if you like?"

"Sure."

Something shifted behind him, and hands that had been petting his back and warming him through suddenly left, pulling him just a little out of sleep.

"Hey, Hunk - thanks for this, man. I owe you one. Another one. Maybe I should get you a card so you can keep all your 'Lance owes me' points in one place. Like, a rewards card or something."

Shiro liked the sound of that. He should get a 'Lance Owes Me' reward card too. Actually, the whole team should have that card. He'd suggest that later, after he woke up. Breakfast time.

"Nah, it's cool, since it was for Shiro."

He felt himself being carefully moved off of the warm thing in front of him, so he grabbed at it to prevent it from leaving.

It gasped slightly. That's right - the warm thing was Lance. How had he forgotten that?

"Shiro," Lance spoke quietly, "you don't want to sleep like that."

Lance was definitely wrong, because Shiro felt really relaxed right now. He was just getting cold, which he wouldn't be if the warmth didn't keep trying to get away.

He could hear snickering from somewhere above him, which he presumed was Hunk. See, Hunk also thought that stuff about not sleeping just like this was silly. He could definitely sleep like this.

Hands gently tried to prise his arms away from the warmth. "Come on, Big Cat. Let's just lie down."

Ooooh, right. Lying down was usually better for sleeping. Shiro could let himself be moved then. He meant to grab at the warmth again before it went away, but he was wondering where the new nickname had come from, and then the warmth was out of reach. But he got a blanket, which would do for now.

Shiro had already slipped into a deep sleep by the time Hunk and Lance turned the lights out and crept out of Hunk's room.

* * *

Shiro was late. Shiro was never late.

Keith hadn't seen him in the training room that morning, but that wasn't too strange - sometimes Shiro did his morning exercises earlier thank Keith, or sometimes not until later if he had plans for the morning.

But he didn't miss breakfast. If they had time to sit at the table and eat a proper meal, Shiro was there. Keith was fairly sure that it was a show of solidarity. But breakfast was nearly over now.

"Where's Shiro?" He asked the room at large. Pidge looked up from her bowl of green stuff blearily, blinking around as though she'd only just noticed his absence. She probably had - Pidge didn't wake up for a good hour after her body was up and moving.

Lance and Hunk looked at each other. So they did know. Keith had figured that they knew where Shiro was, since neither had commented on his absence. Lance always seemed to look around for Shiro whenever he entered a room with more than one person in it, and Hunk was the kind of person who would also know that Shiro was never late to Breakfast, and would also be worried that he was missing it. They had arrived for breakfast together, which itself wasn't usual - so maybe they really were together, but it was a new thing? And really, why did it matter to Keith whether Hunk and Lance were a thing? It absolutely shouldn't matter. It kind of mattered. A lot.

Keith was getting distracted. The possible relationship status of two of his team-mates was not important. Simple, uncomplicated questions first.

"Relax, Keith. He's probably just sleeping in," Lance waved a hand dismissively. There was another odd thing about this morning. Lance usually sat next to him, but today he was sitting on the other side of the table. He wasn't even next to Hunk, who was sitting between Keith and Pidge, poking Pidge's plate with his spoon. Her reflexes hadn't booted up yet, so she was slower on the hand slap than usual.

Focus, Keith. One odd thing at a time.

"Sleeping in?" Keith asked, incredulous. "This is Shiro we're talking about."

"If he's still asleep, he probably needed it," Hunk reasoned. "We can go wake him up before morning training starts."

Keith hummed as he ate the last of his food goo. Coran arrived just as he was standing up.

"Ah, and a good morning to all of you!" He greeted cheerfully. Pidge growled, which Coran completely ignored in favour of looking around the table. "...We seem to be one short."

That's it. Keith was going to go find Shiro.

He was in the hallway heading for Shiro's room when he saw the man himself coming out of... someone else's room?

He checked the door. The yellow lion card marked it pretty clearly. That was Hunk's room.

Shiro stood in the doorway a moment, clearly sleep rumpled and running his hands through his hair, making the mess look far more... fluffy than usual. He then spotted Keith and smiled lazily at him.

"Keith. Good morning."

"Uh. Yeah?" Keith responded intelligently. Shiro looked... well, good. Relaxed. Happy. Softer, somehow. And in Hunk's bedroom.

...What?

Snapping himself out of it, Keith tried to come up with something a little more substantial to respond with. "You missed breakfast."

Shiro looked surprised by that. "I did? Wow." He looked back into the room for a moment before stepping into the hall and heading towards the Kitchen. "No one woke me."

"Hunk... Said you probably needed the sleep." Keith said, very deliberately trying to stop his own train of thought. He was definitely misunderstanding. Must be. This was Shiro he was thinking about. And Hunk. But especially Shiro.

Shiro chuckled, and Keith fell in step beside him. By the time they'd gotten back to the dining room, Lance and Coran had left, leaving only Hunk and Pidge, who seemed to have actually woken up now, chatting together and arranging utensils in some sort of design.

Hunk waved at them. "Mornin'. Sleep well?"

Shiro practically beamed. "You bet. I can't remember the last time I slept that well."

Pidge squinted at him, head tilted slightly as she looked him over. She then leaned over and poked Hunk with a raised eyebrow.

"Shiro got some Hunk Therapy too?" She asked. Hunk raised a hand to the back of his neck, looking bashful but pleased.

Nope.

"Is that what we're calling it now?" Shiro asked lightly, walking over to the hoses, ruffling Pidge's hair on the way.

Had to be something else. He was misreading the situation. Had to be.

"Damn, He's practically glowing today," Pidge snickered, looking far too impressed, in Keith's opinion. "You're good." 

Keith was losing the plot. That had to be it. Except... no, wait. He thought... Hunk was...

"Lance?" Keith asked, far less eloquently then he would have liked. Both Hunk and Pidge looked at him.

"Coran poached him off for something before training," Hunk replied. Pidge raised an eyebrow at him.

"You ok? You look a little... I don't know, is that pale or flushed?" Pidge turned to Hunk to solicit his opinion. Hunk just looked concerned.

"No, not now. Last night?" Keith tried again. "You were... with Shiro. What about Lance?"

"Last night? He was there too," Hunk replied, completely confused. "I mean, the whole thing was his idea?"

What?!

Sure, of course neither Hunk not Shiro would never do something behind Lance's back, so that would have had to be it, but... What??

"Oh right, that reminds me." Shiro sat down next to Hunk, sparing a brief sad glance at his bowl of green goo. "Did I fall asleep on Lance last night?"

"Yep," Hunk grinned. Pidge pressed a hand to her face to stifle her laughter. "Wouldn't let him get away either."

Lance and Shiro. In Hunk's room. With Hunk.

Shiro put a hand over his face to hide his blush. "So that did happen, huh?"

Shiro. Sleeping. On Lance. In Hunk's bed.

Pidge didn't bother containing her laughter any more. "I wish I'd seen that!"

So did Keith.

Wait.

"I'll see you at training." Keith muttered, pivoting on his heel.

"Keith," Shiro's voice stopped him, but he didn't turn around. "Pidge is right, you look a little flushed. Are you feeling OK?"

Keith cleared his throat. "Yes, I'm feeling fine."

He could almost feel exactly how unconvinced both Hunk and Shiro were behind his back.

But of course, it was Pidge who spoke.

"Maybe Hunk could help?" Dammit, Keith could hear the grin in Pidge's voice as she said that.

Keith didn't flee. He strode purposefully and very quickly away.

There was another explanation. Of course there was, because "Hunk has magical sex powers" was not an explanation. And as soon as he could get explanation out of his head, he'd be much happier.


	2. Bonus Scene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short bonus scene to round out the morning.

Keith was pretty sure he'd managed to get his head together by the time training began. And if he found himself shooting a few odd looks at Hunk... He was pretty sure Hunk, at least, wouldn't call him out on it.

He had hoped that once they started hand to hand properly his brain would stop trying to work out how to surreptitiously ask Hunk if he were... involved with his team-mates.

Involved. Wow. His thoughts sounded like his grandfather.

Except that, almost as though it was to deliberately spite him, they weren't getting to the fighting right away

No, they got to do an obstacle course instead.

That was fine though, it was an Altean obstacle course. Alteans in general were pretty hardcore with their training, so it should at least be a challenge. Lance had already bet him that he could beat him, which - yeah, that wasn't happening.

But then, something... had happened.

And of course it started with Lance.

"Let's get down to business!" Lance began singing, loudly. 

Keith had slipped off the wall he was half way up, startled by the sudden music.

"To defeat... Galra!" Lance kept going.

Worse, Hunk joined in.

"Did they send me Daughters - when I asked for Sons?" 

"No offence, Pidge." Hunk added to Pidge, who was now gaining on him up the wall.

"None taken!" She shouted back, before leading off in an awkward, slightly out of breath voice "You're the saddest bunch I ever met..."

Were those the next lyrics, and why did everyone know this song? Keith presumed they were the right lyrics, since Hunk and Lance cheered and joined back in.

"But you can bet, before we're through-"

"Mister, I'll..." Keith's head whipped to the side. "Make a man..." No. Joining in, that was - "Out of you!"

Shiro. Shiro was singing too.

"Tranquil as a forest! But on fire- within..."

Everyone except the Alteans joined in for what Keith presumed was the second verse. Although Coran looked like he wanted to start singing along anyway, even without knowing the words.

That clinched it. He was the only sane man. Everyone else had clearly lost the plot, and now they were singing insulting motivational songs.

Even Shiro was playing along.

"Once you find your centre-"

It was kind of catchy, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay here - I lost access to the place I was storing this on.

**Author's Note:**

> I kind of wanted to post this before going away on holiday, soo... here I am, posting from my phone.
> 
> Yeah, i'm oficially way to fond of Keith reading the whole situation wrong. Even if it only makes me giggle.
> 
> There's another bonus scene that'll have to come later


End file.
